Bridge-gate



R. LORANG.

BRIDGE GATE.

(No Model.)

Patented July 7 1891 y UNITED VSTATES PATENT OFFICE.

RUDOLPH LORANG, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.,

BRIDGE-GATE. Y

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 455,669, dated July 7, 1891.-

y Application led September 13, 1890. Serial No. 364,809. (No model.) l l To a/ZZ whom, t may concern.:

Be it known that I, RUDOLPH LoRANe, a citizen of the United States, residing at Chicago, in the county of Cook and Stateof Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvem ents in Bridge-Gates, of which the following is a specification.

The invention consists in certain features of novelty that are particularly pointed out in the claims hereinafter, a gate embodying said invention being first fully described, with reference to the accompanying drawings, which form a part of this specification, and in Which- Figure l is an elevation of said gate in its depressed position, the bridge being shown in vertical transverse section. Fig. 2 is a plan view thereof, the parts being shown in horizontal section on the line 2 2, Fig. l.

A A represent two hollow posts secured tov the abutment B on opposite sides of the roadway and extending some live or six feet both above and below the level of the roads surface. Upon each of these posts is a vertical guide-rail C, which rails are parallel with each other and constitute tracks on which travel four (more or less) anti-friction rollers D, secured to the ends of the gate E. The peripheries of the rollers are grooved for the reception of the guide-rails, the gate being thus held against horizontal movement.

The gate extends clear across the roadway, as is customary, and to its ends are attached chains or cables F F, which pass over pulleys Gr G, journaled tothe posts, and are provided with Weights H H sufficiently heavy t-o lift the gate to the position shown by dotted lines in Fig. 2, this being the position it occupies when the draw is open.

An anti-friction roller I is secured to each end of the bridge centrally beneath it, and to the gate is secured a cam K, consisting of two rails meeting at the middle of the gate and sloping downward toward its opposite ends. This cam lies in the path traveled by the roller I, and its base and summit are so situated with respect t`o each other and to the gate that as the bridge closes (the gate'bein g in its highest position) the roller will come in contact with the cam near its base, andas the bridge continues to move the roller will continue tobear upon the cam, thereby causing the gate to be depressed. The gate reaches its lowerlnostposition a trifle before the bridge is quite closed, the cam being provided with a horizontal portion la at its summit, upon which the roller travels and bears after this has taken place.

The inner edges of the posts A are rabbeted or cut away, as shown at o, so as to form a space between the guide-rails C and the posts, the said guide-rails being so secured to the posts that their inner edges will project over said rabbeted portions. The gate is provided with upper and lower horizontal bars e e, which are connected together by the central vertical bar e', and the latter is braced by and in turn supports the bars which coustiv tute the cani K. The iiat ends of the horizontal bars e e project over the said rabbeted portions a and tit between the guide-rails C and the posts, and thus guide the gate in its vertical movement and secure it again-st displacement under' extraordinary circumstances, the rollers D being journaled at a distance from the ends of the bars e., so as to allowr the latter to project inward under the guide-rails. These rollers, it will be understood, are provided mainly for the purpose of preventing side play.

The gate itself may be of any desired construction, and is surinounted by a curved plate M, which is of suflicient widthV to rest upon both the bridgeand the abutment when the gate is in its lowermost position, thereby closiu g the crack between them and preventing the weight of vehicles, dtc., from falling upon the gate itself. Y

I am aware that rollers have been provided for reducing the friction of a sliding gate, and do not claim such, broadly, as my invention.

Having thus described my invention, the following is what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent:

l. The combination, with the bridge and the abutment, of the posts arranged at both sides of the abutment, the vertical guide-rails secured to said posts, the gate provided with the horizontal bars e e, having their ends fitted Ico between said guide-rails and posts, rollers secured to said bars at a distance from their ends and engaging said guide-rails, pulleys journaled in said posts, and weighted cables passing over said pulleys and being connected to said gate, substantially as set forth.

2. The combination, with the bridge andthe abutment, of the posts arranged at both sides of the abutment and having the rabbeted portions a, the vertical guide-rails secured to said posts and projecting over said rabbeted portions, the gate provided with the horizontal bars e e, having their ends projecting over the said rabbeted portions and fitting between the said guide-rails and posts, rollers secured to said bars and engaging said guide-rails, pulleys journaled in said posts, and weighted cables passing over said pulleys and being connected to said gate, substantially as set forth.

3. The combination, with thebridge and the abutment, of the posts arranged at both sides ot the abutment, vertical guide-rails secured gate and passing over said pulleys, substan- 3 5 tially as set forth.

RUDOLPH LORANG.

Witnesses:

L. M. HOPKINS, E. C. WENDEMAN. 

